A few months after her mother's death, Espanca became one of the first female students to enroll in the Liceu André de Gouveia, a traditionally male school in Évora, Portugal.

[1] In 1913, Espanca failed a final examination and dropped out of school, and on her 19th birthday, she married Alberto Moutinho, a longtime friend and classmate.

Six months later, Espanca had a miscarriage and took a temporary break from university in order to recover in the southern region of Algarve, away from the capital city of Lisbon.

[2] Espanca's brother died in an airplane accident (some believe he committed suicide, due to his fiancée's death), which deeply affected her.

[citation needed] After being diagnosed with pulmonary edema, Espanca starting keeping a diary and twice attempted suicide shortly before the completion of Charneca em Flor.

[1] In 1931, Reliquiare, a title given by the Italian professor Guido Battelli, was published with the poems she wrote on a further version of Charneca em Flor.

[citation needed] A bilingual anthology of poems by Espanca was published as This Sorrow that Lifts Me Up in 2022, with translations by Simon Park and illustrations by Margarida Fleming.